Oppose CBI and NAFTA for Africa

By Robert Naiman, 20 November 1999

As many of you are aware, both the House and the Senate have passed versions of H.R. 434, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, dubbed NAFTA for Africa by its critics. The Senate version has attached NAFTA expansion to Central America and the Caribbean, otherwise known as CBI - NAFTA parity. The combined package is currently before a House-Senate conference.

Neither bill meets the demands of progressive critics of U.S. trade and investment policy, or the concerns of economic justice movements in the countries affected. Three basic elements of sustainable economic development policy are missing from this corporate-led bill:

• Debt cancellation delinked from compliance with IMF-World Bank structural adjustment policies;
• Enforceable labor rights standards; and
• Real protection for the environment.

Nonetheless, there is a major effort underway to misinform Members of Congress that NAFTA for Africa and CBI expansion are supported by a broad array of liberal and progressive groups. For example, a group called Haiti Advocacy, Inc. placed an ad in the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call, over the signature of many progressive groups and individuals, urging passage of the bill. Many of these groups and individuals had no idea that their name was going on such an ad, and strongly oppose the bill.

To find out if you or your group was listed in the Roll Call ad, contact Scott Nova at the Citizens Trade Campaign at 202-546-4611.

If you or your group was listed in the Roll Call ad, and you wish to make clear that you do not support the NAFTA for Africa/CBI package, we ask you to fax a letter *this week* to that effect to Representative Sherrod Brown’s office at 202-225-2266—his office has agreed to collect these letters for further distribution. Please send your letter to the attention of Tom Moore, and fax a copy to Segundo Mercado-Llorenz at the Citizens Trade Campaign at 202-547-7392. Please emphasize that any new U.S. legislation concerning trade with Africa, Central America and the Caribbean should include debt cancellation delinked from compliance with IMF-World Bank structural adjustment policies and enforceable labor rights and environmental standards.

Even if you or your group was not listed in the Roll Call ad, we ask you write and call your Congressional representatives indicating that you oppose HR 434, or any new trade agreements with Africa, Central America or the Caribbean which does not include debt cancellation delinked from compliance IMF-World Bank structural adjustment policies and does not include enforceable labor rights and environmental standards. You can also send generic Dear Senator and Dear Representative letters to Scott Nova, Citizens Trade Campaign at 215 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20003 or 202-547-7392 by fax..

Thank you for your efforts to change the pro-corporate character of U.S. trade and investment policy.